Razer Lycosa Mirror Keyboard Review

Introduction:

Input devices like keyboards and mice are vital to every computer owner since they obviously allow us to interact with many complicated electronic chips. However, they are, just like the power supply, the parts that are often skimped on. Why spend a hundred bucks on a keyboard when there is one on sale for a third of the price and comes with a free mouse? Sure, for the average user, those will do the job, but the enthusiasts and gamers that lurk around here often cannot and should not settle for such a thing. Something that's going to be used for hours on end has to be comfortable, fast and, of course, flashy. While there is an astonishing amount of gaming mice, the same cannot be said about keyboards. There are actually very few options when looking at high end keyboards; Logitech has the G15, Razer carries a few and that's pretty much it. For all the Microsoft fans out there, it also makes one, but let's get back to the point.

Razer manufactures a bunch of high end gaming products, such as keyboards, mice, mouse pads and headsets. That's what the company is renowned for among gamers and today I am introducing something Razer is usually pretty good at getting right - a keyboard. Although this isn't an entirely new product, it is still a very interesting piece of equipment. The Razer Lycosa was brought to market about a year ago and now we have the Mirror Special Edition keeping our hands full with more features than ever. Enough talk, let's see if this one has what it takes to outshine its competition.

Closer Look:

The Lycosa Mirror comes in the usual eye catching Razer theme - mainly black with green and silver writings. The main side showcases what looks like a sleep keyboard along with its main features on the lower right corner. The back side goes into more detail on each and every feature, both in English and in French, which I will cover later on.

Before moving further, let's just make another quick stop to the top side of the box. The reflective Lycosa logo as well as the font make for some attractive looking design. Notice the "o" is actually a spider? That is because, in case you never noticed, Razer keyboards all carry arachnid names. While I am still on that box, it feels solid and does a good job at keeping the Lycosa safe.

Flipping the box open does not reveal a shiny keyboard; instead, we discover another cardboard layer in order to keep the suspense going. Although not only that, it also secures the sleeve with a bunch of manuals in it so everything isn't all over the place in there. You also get a message from the RazerGuy himself bragging about how awesome this keyboard is, which you'll soon figure out if he is right or not. Moving that final layer out of the way finally leaves us with a keyboard.

The keyboard itself is located in a cloth-like bag in order to protect the glossy surface. Many things hide inside the sleeve, including a thirty-six page thick master manual, a quick start guide, a four square inch piece of cloth to keep the keyboard tidy, a couple of Razer stickers and finally, a product catalog.